North District Age Group Meet, Inverness, 3-4 December 2011

Seven swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club competed at the North District Age Group Meet and each successfully managed to produce personal best times.

The outstanding South Mainland swimmer of the weekend was 11 year old Sophie Morris who had qualified for all eleven events and managed to gain PBs in all but one race. Significant improvements in times came in all strokes and all distances and when combining all strokes in the individual medleys achieved excellent results. In the 400 IM she improved her time by 8 seconds but it was in the 200m IM that Sophie really shone. 

Breaking her entry time by 8 seconds earned her a place in the final for 10/11 year age group, where, as her last race over a very busy two days, she broke her earlier time by a further 2 seconds to finish in a 2.52.97 just outside medal position in 4^th place. 

In the same age group, Curstaidh Mackay, 12, competed in 10 events and gained good PBs in 6 events. Having broken her previous best times in breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly she just missed PBs in the 100m and 200m freestyle. However, she tackled the longer 400m freestyle with great determination and swam it extremely well to knock a whopping 13 seconds off her time for a 5.30.49. Despite the 400m being the last race, two of the South Mainland boys also demonstrated fantastic swims. Darin Eldridge, 14, swimming for the last time at the competition, took 14 seconds off his time and went under 5 minutes for the first time with a 4.58.70. Just a few lanes away he was having a close tussle with James Morris, 13, who fought all the way to finish in 5.01.70, a 12 second PB. Darin competed in 10 events and successfully made seven PBs. After finishing his 100m freestyle in a PB of 1.05.67 he was given some very useful feedback from Ally Whike, Performance Director of Scottish Swimming who had watched the race, yet another where more than one South Mainland boy was seeded in the same heat. Again James was in the mix and equalled his PB. Swimming 9 events he gained 6 PBs in total and some of his best improvements were in the 200m backstroke with a 2.40.91, 200m breaststroke with a 3.14.29 and 200m freestyle with a 2.24.12.

For Philip Hilditch, 14, it was his first visit to the 8 lane pool in Inverness and the biggest competition he has experienced. He coped very well with the demands of a two day meet and came away with a well deserved tally of 5 PBs out of 7 events. He produced a substantial 10 second PB in the tough 400m IM with a 6.07.25 and had an excellent 2 second PB in the 100m freestyle with a 1.08.33,  in the same heat as Darin, James and Scott Riise. Like Philip, Scott, 13 was experiencing the competition for the first time.  His 100m freestyle was faster than his entry time and equalled a very recent PB. In the 200m freestyle his time improved by 5 seconds and he made an even better 7 second PB in the 200m backstroke, breaking the 3 minute barrier for the first occasion with a 2.57.76.

Youngest of the South Mainland boys, Eddie Price, 13, had qualified for all the events which provided a variety of challenges and results. Many of his swims were within a second of his PB times, but like his team mates managed to achieve PBs. His 200 breaststroke reflected recent improvement in his shorter breaststroke events with a 5 second PB for a 3.03.01 and he chipped a second off his 200m butterfly time where he finished 10^th in the 13/14 age group. In the 200m IM his heat time gained him a place in the final of the 13year olds where he finished 7^th.

South Mainland ASC would like to thank NorthLink Ferries and Freefield Pharmacy for their support.

North District Age Group Meet, Inverness, 5-6 February 2011

This was the meet that so many had looked forward to – having already been a victim of atrocious weather in December, when it was cancelled at the last moment, 11 South Mainland swimmers were due to head to the rescheduled meet at the beginning of February.

Unfortunately, once more, weather played havoc with our intentions of taking the biggest number of swimmers ever to the District meet – for many this was going to be a first time at the event. Ghastly gale force winds prevented the boat from sailing on the Thursday night so in the end only three swimmers decided to opt to fly to Inverness.

The first challenge of the weekend was enduring ‘the worst flight ever’  from Sumburgh to Inverness via Kirkwall – except that the Kirkwall brief stop didn’t happen, and although, to begin with, the plane thought that was where it was going, changed it’s mind within what felt like 10 feet of the ground and whooshed heavenward at the last moment. 

Announcements of trying again or having to divert were made, but not back to Sumburgh as it was closed due to the storm and not directly to Inverness as it too was closed, due to flooding.  So on we continued, suffering the extremely bumpy trip and landing in Aberdeen an hour and fifty minutes after taking from Sumburgh. Once safe on the ground, while most would happily have got off and caught a bus, train or hitchhiked, we were kept in our seats and once again launched into gale force winds and chucked about up to Inverness.

Despite the dodgiest of starts to the weekend all three swimmers swam extremely well, totalling 28 personal best times and a dozen medals between them.

Competing at the event for his  fifth and last time, 14 year old Donnie Price had a fantastic two days, swimming every event in the 13/14 boys age group. Over twelve events he achieved 10 personal best times and 7 medals making him the most successful swimmer from Shetland at the meet. His first medal came in the 100m breaststroke where he gained the bronze with a PB time of 1.14.70 and this was followed later in the day with a tremendous 4 second PB in the 400 IM where with a time of 5.01.70 he won his first gold of the weekend. The 200m breaststroke then produced another brilliant PB and this time he came second. Heading back to the pool on the Sunday provided Donnie with the opportunity to pull off some more great swims, a chance he was not to miss. In the 100m freestyle he gained a good PB, but with a strong field, a 58.29 was only good enough for a sixth place. However, in his second race in the morning, Donnie demonstrated his ever improving race skills in competing in the 1500m freestyle. Unworried by other competitors heading off very fast at the beginning and being ahead in the early stages, he kept it very steady for the first 500m before picking up his pace and pushing well in front of others. Maintaining his lead he finished in 17.13.32, achieving not just gold but also a time required this year for Scottish Youth Development Squad. Sunday afternoon brought a PB in the 200m IM heat and a place in the evening’s final. The 400m freestyle was swam in similar fashion to the 1500m, letting others burn out during the first 100m while holding back a little before increasing the pace and taking over the lead at the half way mark. Another good 4 second PB was produced for another gold medal. In the last session of the meet, Donnie still continued to produce quality swims. In the 200m backstroke he smashed his entry time by 8 seconds with a 2.22.96, achieving a 3^rd place and a new Shetland Age Group record. Ten minutes later came the final of the 200m IM and finishing off his meet in style, Donnie lowered his PB from the afternoon and successfully gained a bronze.

Donnie’s younger brother, Eddie, 12, also swam every race of the meet in the 10-12 years age group and successfully clocked up 12 PBs and 5 medals. The 400m freestyle was his first event, where he broke his target of 5 minutes for the first time with a 4.58.32 to take bronze. After another two PBs during the first session in the 100m butterfly and the 200m backstroke,  the afternoon got underway with the tough 400m IM and another good PB of 5.55.30, just missing out on the medals with 4^th place. A tiny PB was then achieved in his 100m freestyle with a 1.07.14, enough to get the silver. Saturday evening started with the 200m butterfly where he swam a very well paced race, and with two lengths to go held on to his lead to win the gold in 2.58.27, lowering his Shetland Age Group record by three seconds. The following day he started by taking six seconds off his 200m breaststroke time and achieved a time for Scottish National Age Groups in April.  The 1500m freestyle followed, where Eddie executed his race plan extremely well in maintaining a steady pace and finishing with an extra push in the closing stages. His resulting time of 19.27.83 earned a well deserved silver. His next race was the heat of 200m IM and producing another PB secured a place in the final. The 100m backstroke was another fabulous race, and a good 2 second PB.

The closing session of the competition brought one of the races that Eddie had been most looking forward to, the 200m freestyle where he excelled himself by whacking a huge 7 seconds off his  entry time with a 2.20.47 to finish in 3^rd place once again. Shortly after, he completed his events with the final of the 200 IM finishing in 5^th place.

Vhairi Davies, 12, competing in this level of competition for the first time, had a tremendous weekend making excellent PBs in all of her 5 races. Her meet started off by taking 2 seconds off her 100m butterfly followed by  9 seconds from her 200m backstroke. After a break in the afternoon, she faced one of the toughest events in swimming, the 200m butterfly and succeeded in improving her entry time by an incredible 17 seconds to finish in 3.17.30 and a very respectable 12^th place. Equally challenging was the 400m IM that greeted her on Sunday morning and once again Vhairi demolished her entry time by taking 21 seconds off her PB to get a 6.36.24. Her last race brought her yet one more good PB time of 1.24.29 in the 100m backstroke.

North District Age Group Meet, Inverness - December 2008

Six young swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club had a successful weekend last month, competing at the North District Age Group Meet at Inverness.

While fellow Shetland county squad swimmer, Felix Gifford of Delting Dolphins stood out as the most successful 13-14 boy, South Mainland’s Donnie Price, age 12, was the top boy in the 10-12 year age bracket.

The only boy in his age group to compete in all 12 events, Donnie won golds for 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle. Silver was won in the 100m breaststroke and bronze medals came in the 200m breaststroke and 200m backstroke. In each swim a personal best time was achieved and 10 new Shetland 11/12 years age group records were accomplished on the way, including the 200m butterfly, and both the 200m and 400m individual medleys. Undoubtedly Donnie’s most outstanding swim was in the 1500m freestyle. Guaranteed to win a medal, since only 3 boys age 10-12 were competing in this the longest pool event, he swam in a seeded heat that also included boys from the older age group.

Going out fast from the start, he maintained his pace in clockwork fashion, pulled ahead of some of the bigger boys by halfway, and, cheered on by his team mates on poolside during the last 200m, finished 2 lengths clear of the second position swimmer in his age group. Finishing in a time of 18.50.22, he had knocked off 59 seconds from the previous Shetland 11/12 years record.

Darin Eldridge, age 11, competing in this meet for the second year, was kept very busy with 11 events. He displayed improvement in entry times for all strokes and distances, but especially in the 200m & 400m events where he has had little previous experience at this level of competition. In the 400m IM he took off a remarkable 15 seconds from his PB, to finish in 6.14.72, 11th place overall but 3rd out of the 11 year old boys. Darin’s best achievement was in the 200m breaststroke where he finished 7th overall, the 2nd fastest 11 year old.

Only five 10 year old boys had qualified for the Inverness meet, and two of them, James Morris and Eddie Price were from South Mainland. James swam in 5 events, and despite having been ill the previous week, managed to produce 3 good personal best times. James and Eddie, used to pushing each other in training at Sandwick, had a fantastic race in the 200m backstroke, where Eddie was just out-touched by 1/2 second by James, whose time of 3.08.77 was a new Shetland record for 10 year boys.

In both the 100m and the 200m freestyle James and Eddie were again swimming in the same heat. Eddie finished with a good PB in the 100m and James was just outside his previous best. The 200m free, the last event for both boys, once more was closely fought – both producing huge 8 second PBs. Eddie, the very youngest boy from over 20 clubs competing at the meet, finished in a time of 2.43.72, beating his big brother’s Shetland 10year boys record by over 2 seconds.

The girls taking part were 12 year olds Kirsty Laurenson, competing at the event for the first time, and Sarah Keay. Sarah woke up on the Saturday with a stinking cold, so the weekend was going to be a real challenge. However, despite feeling far from top form, she coped well with the fairly hefty schedule of 10 events, and produced swims close to her entry times. Remarkably, Sarah even managed to pull off a couple of PBs. In her best event of the weekend, the 100m breaststroke she broke the 1.30 mark for the first time, with 1.29.00, a 2sec PB and finished in an excellent 7th overall position.

In 2007, Kirsty just missed qualifying for the event, but with a further 12 months of sound training found herself now swimming in 10 events. In nearly all her races she produced good PBs. Her best swims came in 200m butterfly and the 400m IM, arguably the two toughest events in competitive swimming. With her stamina gained from regular hard work in the pool, Kirsty showed brilliant improvement from her previous times.

South Mainland ASC would like to thank the following for their sponsorship and support; Nothlink Ferries, Mainlands, JHB Ltd, JA&GD Nicolson and Freefield Pharmacy.